Fundamental locomotive activity time efficiency with differently positioning drive-axis wheelchairs among elders.
This study examined time efficiency in wheelchair locomotive activities among four different wheelchairs propelled by elders with arms and/or legs. Sixteen elder manual wheelchair users propelled her/his own wheelchair and three wheelchairs (the main drive-axis wheels positioning in front, middle, and rear, respectively) in the test of seven wheelchair locomotive activities of daily living. A Mixed-Model ANOVA and Bonferroni post hoc test (p < .05) were employed to determine the time efficiency among four wheelchairs and three groups. The results demonstrated better time efficiency resulted from propelling the mid drive-axis and/or rear drive-axis wheelchairs; using arms and legs simultaneously propelling wheelchairs was more time efficient than using the arms or legs only in the selected locomotive activities.
Wang
Yong Tai
YT
Physical Therapy Department, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USA. ywang2@gsu.edu
Bernard
Randy
R
Cope
Clint
C
Chang
Li-Shan
LS
Limroongreungrat
Weerawat
W
Sprigle
Stephen
S
D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D006233:Persons with Disabilities; D004526:Efficiency; D004867:Equipment Design; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008124:Locomotion / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D013997:Time Factors; D014910:Wheelchairs